The World Money Fair is an international bourse of coins. A ''bourse'' is where dealers, collectors and the public buy, sell and trade coins.

In 1970 Albert M. Beck founded the "Organisation of European Coin-Bourses", "Organisation Europäischer Münzen-Börsen" (OEMB) in Munich. He nurtured an idea of building up a stronger market for the collecting of coins.

Two years later the first international bourse of coins took place in Basel. Over the years it was developed into the "World Money Fair". Today more than 40 nations are members of this organisation. In 2006, the bourse moved to Berlin. During the first convention in the German capital, the German Secretary of State Karl Diller presented the new German 2 Euro Coin. It shows the Holstentor of Lübeck.

The most recent World Money Fair, the 40th edition, was held in January 2011 in Berlin at the Estrel Convention Center. The guest of honour at the 40th edition was The Polish state mint.

The World Money Fair's Official Website:

Category:Money Category:Coins

de:World Money Fair simple:World Money Fair

Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Warren Buffett
birth name	Warren Edward Buffett
birth date	August 30, 1930
birth place	Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
nationality	American
alma mater	University of NebraskaColumbia Business School
occupation	Businessman, Investor
salary	US$100,000
networth	US$50 billion (2011)
spouse	Susan Thompson Buffett (1952–2004)Astrid Menks (2006–present)
children	Susan Alice BuffettHoward Graham BuffettPeter Andrew Buffett
signature	Warren Buffett Signature.svg }}

Warren Edward Buffett (; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world's wealthiest person in 2008 and is the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2011.

Buffett is called the "Oracle of Omaha" or the "Sage of Omaha" and is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily via the Gates Foundation. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.

Early life

Buffett was born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska, the second of three children and only son of U.S. Representative Howard Buffett,, a fierce critic of the interventionist New Deal domestic and foreign policy, and his wife Leila (née Stahl). Buffett began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School in Omaha. In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Congress, and after moving with his family to Washington, D.C., Warren finished elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947, where his senior yearbook picture reads: "likes math; a future stock broker."

Even as a child, Buffett displayed an interest in making and saving money. He went door to door selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola, or weekly magazines. For a while, he worked in his grandfather's grocery store. While still in high school he was successful in making money by delivering newspapers, selling golfballs and stamps, and detailing cars, among other means. Filing his first income tax return in 1944, Buffett took a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route. In 1945, in his sophomore year of high school, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barber shop. Within months, they owned several machines in different barber shops.

Buffett's interest in the stock market and investing also dated to his childhood, to the days he spent in the customers' lounge of a regional stock brokerage near the office of his father's own brokerage company. On a trip to New York City at the age of ten, he made a point to visit the New York Stock Exchange. At the age of 11, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself, and three for his sister. While in high school he invested in a business owned by his father and bought a farm worked by a tenant farmer. By the time he finished college, Buffett had accumulated more than $90,000 in savings measured in 2009 dollars.

Buffett entered college as a freshmen in 1947 at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and studied there for two years from 1947 to 1949. In the year 1950, when he entered his junior year, he transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where at the age of nineteen, he graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After the completion of his undergraduate studies, Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School after learning that Benjamin Graham (author of "The Intelligent Investor" – one of his favorite books on investing) and David Dodd, two well-known securities analysts, taught there. He received a M.S. in Economics from Columbia Business School in 1951. Buffett also attended the New York Institute of Finance. In Buffett’s own words:

The basic ideas of investing are to look at stocks as business, use the market's fluctuations to your advantage, and seek a margin of safety. That’s what Ben Graham taught us. A hundred years from now they will still be the cornerstones of investing.}}

Career

Warren Buffett was employed from 1951–54 at ''Buffett-Falk & Co.'', Omaha as an investment salesman, from 1954–1956 at ''Graham-Newman Corp.'', New York as a securities analyst, from 1956–1969 at ''Buffett Partnership, Ltd.'', Omaha as a general partner and from 1970 – Present at Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Omaha as its Chairman, CEO.

In 1950, at the age of 20, Buffett had made and saved $9,800. In April 1952, Buffett discovered Graham was on the board of GEICO insurance. Taking a train to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday, he knocked on the door of GEICO's headquarters until a janitor allowed him in. There he met Lorimer Davidson, Geico's Vice President, and the two discussed the insurance business for hours. Davidson would eventually become Buffett's life-long friend and a lasting influence and later recall that he found Buffett to be an "extraordinary man" after only fifteen minutes. Buffett graduated from Columbia and wanted to work on Wall Street, however, both his father and Ben Graham urged him not to. He offered to work for Graham for free, but Graham refused.

Buffett returned to Omaha and worked as a stockbroker while taking a Dale Carnegie public speaking course. Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach an "Investment Principles" night class at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The average age of his students was more than twice his own. During this time he also purchased a Sinclair Texaco gas station as a side investment. However, this did not turn out to be a successful business venture.

In 1952 Buffett married Susan Thompson at Dundee Presbyterian Church and the next year they had their first child, Susan Alice Buffett. In 1954, Buffett accepted a job at Benjamin Graham's partnership. His starting salary was $12,000 a year (approximately $97,000 adjusted to 2008 dollars). There he worked closely with Walter Schloss. Graham was a tough man to work for. He was adamant that stocks provide a wide margin of safety after weighting the trade-off between their price and their intrinsic value. The argument made sense to Buffett but he questioned whether the criteria were too stringent and caused the company to miss out on big winners that had more qualitative values. That same year the Buffetts had their second child, Howard Graham Buffett. In 1956, Benjamin Graham retired and closed his partnership. At this time Buffett's personal savings were over $174,000 ($1.2 million inflation adjusted to 2009 dollars) and he started Buffett Partnership Ltd., an investment partnership in Omaha.

In 1957, Buffett had three partnerships operating the entire year. He purchased a five-bedroom stucco house in Omaha, where he still lives, for $31,500. In 1958 the Buffett's third child, Peter Andrew Buffett, was born. Buffett operated five partnerships the entire year. In 1959, the company grew to six partnerships operating the entire year and Buffett was introduced to Charlie Munger. By 1960, Buffett had seven partnerships operating: Buffett Associates, Buffett Fund, Dacee, Emdee, Glenoff, Mo-Buff and Underwood. He asked one of his partners, a doctor, to find ten other doctors willing to invest $10,000 each in his partnership. Eventually eleven agreed, and Buffett pooled their money with a mere $100 original investment of his own. In 1961, Buffett revealed that Sanborn Map Company accounted for 35% of the partnership's assets. He explained that in 1958 Sanborn stock sold at only $45 per share when the value of the Sanborn investment portfolio was $65 per share. This meant that buyers valued Sanborn stock at "minus $20" per share and were unwilling to pay more than 70 cents on the dollar for an investment portfolio with a map business thrown in for nothing. This earned him a spot on the board of Sanborn.

As a millionaire

In 1962, Buffett became a millionaire because of his partnerships, which in January 1962 had an excess of $7,178,500, of which over $1,025,000 belonged to Buffett. Buffett merged all partnerships into one partnership. Buffett invested in and eventually took control of a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett's partnerships began purchasing shares at $7.60 per share. In 1965, when Buffett's partnerships began purchasing Berkshire aggressively, they paid $14.86 per share while the company had working capital of $19 per share. This did not include the value of fixed assets (factory and equipment). Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway at the board meeting and named a new president, Ken Chace, to run the company. In 1966, Buffett closed the partnership to new money. Buffett wrote in his letter: "... unless it appears that circumstances have changed (under some conditions added capital would improve results) or unless new partners can bring some asset to the partnership other than simply capital, I intend to admit no additional partners to BPL."

In a second letter, Buffett announced his first investment in a private business — Hochschild, Kohn and Co, a privately owned Baltimore department store. In 1967, Berkshire paid out its first and only dividend of 10 cents. In 1969, following his most successful year, Buffett liquidated the partnership and transferred their assets to his partners. Among the assets paid out were shares of Berkshire Hathaway. In 1970, as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett began writing his now-famous annual letters to shareholders. However, he lived solely on his salary of $50,000 per year, and his outside investment income. In 1979, Berkshire began the year trading at $775 per share, and ended at $1,310. Buffett's net worth reached $620 million, placing him on the Forbes 400 for the first time.

In 1973, Berkshire began to acquire stock in the Washington Post Company. Buffett became close friends with Katharine Graham, who controlled the company and its flagship newspaper, and became a member of its board of directors. In 1974, the SEC opened a formal investigation into Warren Buffett and Berkshire's acquisition of WESCO, due to possible conflict of interest. No charges were brought. In 1977, Berkshire indirectly purchased the ''Buffalo Evening News'' for $32.5 million. Antitrust charges started, instigated by its rival, the ''Buffalo Courier-Express''. Both papers lost money, until the ''Courier-Express'' folded in 1982.

In 1979, Berkshire began to acquire stock in ABC. Capital Cities announced $3.5 billion purchase of ABC on March 18, 1985 surprised the media industry, as ABC was four times bigger than Capital Cities at the time. Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett helped finance the deal in return for a 25% stake in the combined company. The newly merged company, known as Capital Cities/ABC (or CapCities/ABC), was forced to sell off some stations due to FCC ownership rules. Also, the two companies owned several radio stations in the same markets.

In 1987, Berkshire Hathaway purchased a 12% stake in Salomon Inc., making it the largest shareholder and Buffett the director. In 1990, a scandal involving John Gutfreund (former CEO of Salomon Brothers) surfaced. A rogue trader, Paul Mozer, was submitting bids in excess of what was allowed by the Treasury rules. When this was discovered and brought to the attention of Gutfreund, he did not immediately suspend the rogue trader. Gutfreund left the company in August 1991. Buffett became Chairman of Salomon until the crisis passed; on September 4, 1991, he testified before Congress. In 1988, Buffett began buying stock in Coca-Cola Company, eventually purchasing up to 7% of the company for $1.02 billion. It would turn out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments, and one which it still holds.

As a billionaire

Buffett became a billionaire on paper when Berkshire Hathaway began selling class A shares on May 29, 1990, when the market closed at $7,175 a share. In 1998, in an unusual move, he acquired General Re (Gen Re) for stock. In 2002, Buffett became involved with Maurice R. Greenberg at AIG, with General Re providing reinsurance. On March 15, 2005, AIG's board forced Greenberg to resign from his post as Chairman and CEO under the shadow of criticism from Eliot Spitzer, former attorney general of the state of New York. On February 9, 2006, AIG and the New York State Attorney General's office agreed to a settlement in which AIG would pay a fine of $1.6 billion. In 2010, the federal government settled with Berkshire Hathaway for $92 million in return for the firm avoiding prosecution in an AIG fraud scheme, and undergoing 'corporate governance concessions'.

In 2002, Buffett entered in $11 billion worth of forward contracts to deliver U.S. dollars against other currencies. By April 2006, his total gain on these contracts was over $2 billion. In 2006, Buffett announced in June that he gradually would give away 85% of his Berkshire holdings to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, starting in July 2006. The largest contribution would go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, in a letter to shareholders, Buffett announced that he was looking for a younger successor, or perhaps successors, to run his investment business. Buffett had previously selected Lou Simpson, who runs investments at Geico, to fill that role. However, Simpson is only six years younger than Buffett.

Late 2000s recession

Buffett ran into criticism during the subprime crisis of 2007–2008, part of the late 2000s recession, that he had allocated capital too early resulting in suboptimal deals. “Buy American. I am.” he wrote for an opinion piece published recently in the New York Times. Buffett has called the 2007—present downturn in the financial sector "poetic justice". Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway suffered a 77% drop in earnings during Q3 2008 and several of his recent deals appear to be running into large mark-to-market losses.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired 10% perpetual preferred stock of Goldman Sachs. Some of Buffett's Index put options (European exercise at expiry only) that he wrote (sold) are currently running around $6.73 billion mark-to-market losses. The scale of the potential loss prompted the SEC to demand that Berkshire produce, "a more robust disclosure" of factors used to value the contracts. Buffett also helped Dow Chemical pay for its $18.8 billion takeover of Rohm & Haas. He thus became the single largest shareholder in the enlarged group with his Berkshire Hathaway, which provided $3 billion, underlining his instrumental role during the current crisis in debt and equity markets.

In 2008, Buffett became the richest man in the world dethroning Bill Gates, worth $62 billion according to Forbes, and $58 billion according to Yahoo. Bill Gates had been number one on the Forbes list for 13 consecutive years. In 2009, Bill Gates regained number one of the list according to Forbes magazine, with Buffett second. Their values have dropped to $40 billion and $37 billion respectively, Buffett having (according to Forbes) lost $25 billion in 12 months during 2008/2009.

In October 2008, the media reported that Warren Buffett had agreed to buy General Electric (GE) preferred stock. The operation included extra special incentives: he received an option to buy 3 billion GE at $22.25 in the next five years, and also received a 10% dividend (callable within three years). In February 2009, Buffett sold some of the Procter & Gamble Co, and Johnson & Johnson shares from his portfolio.

In addition to suggestions of mistiming, questions have been raised as to the wisdom in keeping some of Berkshire's major holdings, including The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) which in 1998 peaked at $86. Buffett discussed the difficulties of knowing when to sell in the company's 2004 annual report:

That may seem easy to do when one looks through an always-clean, rear-view mirror. Unfortunately, however, it’s the windshield through which investors must peer, and that glass is invariably fogged.

In March 2009, Buffett stated in a cable television interview that the economy had "fallen off a cliff... Not only has the economy slowed down a lot, but people have really changed their habits like I haven't seen". Additionally, Buffett fears we may revisit a 1970s level of inflation, which led to a painful stagflation that lasted many years.

In 2009, Warren Buffett invested $2.6 billion as a part of Swiss Re's raising equity capital. Berkshire Hathaway already owns a 3% stake, with rights to own more than 20%. In 2009, Warren Buffett acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. for $34 billion in cash and stock. Alice Schroeder, author of Snowball, stated that a reason for the purchase was to diversify Berkshire Hathaway from the financial industry. Measured by market capitalization in the Financial Times Global 500 Berkshire Hathaway as of June 2009 was the eighteenth largest corporation on earth.

In 2009, Buffett divested his failed investment in ConocoPhillips, saying to his Berkshire investors,

I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current $40–$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong. Even if prices should rise, moreover, the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars.

The merger with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) closed upon BNSF shareholder approval in 1Q2010. This deal is valued at approximately $34 billion and reflects an increase of a previously existing stake of about 22%.

In June 2010, Buffett defended the credit rating agencies for their role in the US financial crisis, claiming that:

Very, very few people could appreciate the bubble. That's the nature of bubbles – they're mass delusions.

On March 18, 2011, Goldman Sachs acquired Federal Reserve approval to buy back Berkshire's preferred stock in Goldman. Buffet has been reluctant to give up the stock which averages $1.4 million in dividend a day, stating:

I'm going to be the Osama bin Laden of capitalism. I'm on my way to an unknown destination in Asia where I'm going to look for a cave. If the U.S. Armed forces can't find Osama bin Laden in 10 years, let Goldman Sachs try to find me.

Personal life

Buffett married Susan Buffett (née Thompson) in 1952. They had three children, Susie, Howard and Peter. The couple began living separately in 1977, although they remained married until her death in July 2004. Their daughter, Susie, lives in Omaha and does charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation and is a national board member of Girls, Inc. In 2006, on his seventy-sixth birthday, Warren married his never-married longtime-companion, Astrid Menks, who was then 60 years old. She had lived with him since his wife's departure to San Francisco in 1977. It was Susan Buffett who arranged for the two to meet before she left Omaha to pursue her singing career. All three were close and Christmas cards to friends were signed "Warren, Susie and Astrid". Susan Buffett briefly discussed this relationship in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show shortly before her death, in a rare glimpse into Buffett's personal life.

Warren Buffett disowned his son Peter's adopted daughter, Nicole, in 2006 after she participated in the Jamie Johnson documentary, ''The One Percent.'' Although his first wife had referred to Nicole as one of her "adored grandchildren", Buffett wrote her a letter stating, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin." He signed the letter "Warren."

His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is small compared to senior executive remuneration in comparable companies. In 2007 and 2008, he earned a total compensation of $175,000, which included a base salary of just $100,000. He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, today valued at around $700,000 (although he also owns a $4 million house in Laguna Beach, California). In 1989 after having spent nearly 6.7 million dollars of Berkshire's funds on a private jet, Buffett sheepishly named it "''The Indefensible''". This act was a break from his past condemnation of extravagant purchases by other CEOs and his history of using more public transportation.

He remains an avid player of bridge, which he learned from Sharon Osberg, and plays with her and Bill Gates. He spends twelve hours a week playing the game. In 2006, he sponsored a bridge match for the Buffett Cup. Modeled on the Ryder Cup in golf, held immediately before it, and in the same city, a team of twelve bridge players from the United States took on twelve Europeans in the event. He is a dedicated, lifelong follower of Nebraska football, and attends as many games as his schedule permits. He supported the hire of Bo Pelini following the 2007 season stating, "It was getting kind of desperate around here". He watched the 2009 game against Oklahoma from the Nebraska sideline after being named an honorary assistant coach.

Warren Buffett worked with Christopher Webber on an animated series with chief Andy Heyward, of DiC Entertainment, and then A Squared Entertainment. The series features Buffett and Munger, and teaches children healthy financial habits for life. Buffett was raised Presbyterian but has since described himself as agnostic. In December 2006 it was reported that Buffett does not carry a cell phone, does not have a computer at his desk, and drives his own automobile, a Cadillac DTS. Buffett wears tailor-made suits from the Chinese label Trands; earlier he wore Ermenegildo Zegna.

Lineage

Buffett's DNA report revealed that his paternal ancestors hail from northern Scandinavia, while his maternal ancestors most likely have roots in Iberia or Estonia.

Recognition

In 1999, Buffett was named the top money manager of the Twentieth Century in a survey by the Carson Group, ahead of Peter Lynch and John Templeton. In 2007, he was listed among ''Time'''s 100 Most Influential People in the world. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Most recently, Buffett, along with Bill Gates, was named the most influential global thinker in Foreign Policy's 2010 report.

Politics

In addition to other political contributions over the years, Buffett has formally endorsed and made campaign contributions to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. On July 2, 2008, Buffett attended a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Obama's campaign in Chicago hosted by Obama's National Finance Chair, Penny Pritzker and her husband, as well as Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. Buffett backed Obama for president, and intimated that John McCain's views on social justice were so far from his own that McCain would need a "lobotomy" for Buffett to change his endorsement. During the second 2008 U.S. presidential debate, candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, after being asked first by presidential debate mediator Tom Brokaw, both mentioned Buffett as a possible future Secretary of the Treasury. Later, in the third and final presidential debate, Obama mentioned Buffett as a potential economic advisor. Buffett was also finance advisor to California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during his 2003 election campaign.

Writings

Warren Buffett's writings include his annual reports and various articles. Buffett is recognized by communicators as a great story-teller, as evidenced by his annual letters to shareholders. He warned about the pernicious effects of inflation:

In his article ''The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville'', Buffett rebutted the academic Efficient-market hypothesis, that beating the S&P; 500 was "pure chance", by highlighting the results achieved by a number of students of the Graham and Dodd value investing school of thought. In addition to himself, Buffett named Walter J. Schloss, Tom Knapp, Ed Anderson (Tweedy, Brown Inc.), Bill Ruane (Sequoia Fund, Inc.), Charles Munger (Buffett's own business partner at Berkshire), Rick Guerin (Pacific Partners, Ltd.), and Stan Perlmeter (Perlmeter Investments). In his November 1999 ''Fortune'' article, he warned of investors' unrealistic expectations:

Wealth

In 2008 he was ranked by ''Forbes'' as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately US$62 billion. In 2009, after donating billions of dollars to charity, Buffett was ranked as the second richest man in the United States with a net worth of US$37 billion with only Bill Gates ranked higher than Buffett. His net worth is up to $47 billion in the past 12 months.

Philanthropy

The following quotation from 1988 highlights Warren Buffett's thoughts on his wealth and why he long planned to re-allocate it:

From a ''NY Times'' article: "I don't believe in dynastic wealth", Warren Buffett said, calling those who grow up in wealthy circumstances "members of the lucky sperm club". Buffett has written several times of his belief that, in a market economy, the rich earn outsized rewards for their talents:

His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. This is consistent with statements he has made in the past indicating his opposition to the transfer of great fortunes from one generation to the next. Buffett once commented, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing".

In June 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He pledged about the equivalent of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth approximately US$30.7 billion as of June 23, 2006), making it the largest charitable donation in history, and Buffett one of the leaders of philanthrocapitalism. The foundation will receive 5% of the total donation on an annualised basis each July, beginning in 2006. (Significantly, however, the pledge is conditional upon the foundation's giving away each year, beginning in 2009, an amount that is at least equal to the value of the entire previous year's gift from Buffett, in addition to 5% of the foundation's net assets.) Buffett also will join the board of directors of the Gates Foundation, although he does not plan to be actively involved in the foundation's investments.

This is a significant shift from previous statements Buffett has made, having stated that most of his fortune would pass to his Buffett Foundation. The bulk of the estate of his wife, valued at $2.6 billion, went to that foundation when she died in 2004. He also pledged $50-million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in Washington, where he has served as an adviser since 2002.

In 2006, he auctioned his 2001 Lincoln Town Car on eBay to raise money for Girls, Inc. In 2007, he auctioned a luncheon with himself that raised a final bid of $650,100 for a charity. On June 27, 2008, Zhao Danyang, a general manager at Pure Heart China Growth Investment Fund, won the 2008 5-day online "Power Lunch with Warren Buffett" charity auction with a bid of $2,110,100. Auction proceeds benefit the San Francisco Glide Foundation. The following year, executives from Toronto-based Salida Capital paid US$1.68 million to dine with Buffett.

In a letter to Fortune Magazine's website in 2010 Buffett remarked:

This statement was made as part of a joint proposal with Bill Gates to encourage other wealthy individuals to pool some of their fortunes for charitable purposes.

Bill Gates's wife Melinda urged people to learn a lesson from the philanthropic efforts of the family that sold its home and gave away half of its value, as detailed in ''The Power of Half''. On December 9, 2010, Buffett, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook's CEO), signed a promise they called the "Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge", in which they promised to donate to charity at least half of their wealth over time, and invited others among the wealthy to donate 50% or more of their wealth to charity.

Public positions

Buffett's speeches are known for mixing business discussions with humor. Each year, Buffett presides over Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, an event drawing over 20,000 visitors from both United States and abroad, giving it the nickname "Woodstock of Capitalism". Berkshire's annual reports and letters to shareholders, prepared by Buffett, frequently receive coverage by the financial media. Buffett's writings are known for containing quotations from sources as ranging between the Bible and Mae West, as well as advice in a Midwestern folk style, and numerous jokes.

Tobacco

During the RJR Nabisco, Inc. hostile takeover fight in 1987, Buffett was quoted as telling John Gutfreund:

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s 1994 annual meeting, Buffett said investments in tobacco are:

Coal

In 2007, Buffett's PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of his MidAmerican Energy Company, canceled six proposed coal-fired power plants. These included Utah's Intermountain Power Project Unit 3, Jim Bridger Unit 5, and four proposed plants previously included in PacifiCorp's Integrated Resource Plan. The cancellations came in the wake of pressure from regulators and citizen groups, including a petition drive organized by Salt Lake City commercial real estate broker Alexander Lofft and directed at Buffett personally. The 1,600 petitioners, who described themselves in a letter to Buffett as "a collection of citizens, business owners and managers, service professionals, public servants, and organization representatives ... your friends and new customers here in Utah," explained that, in their view, any further expansion of coal generation in Utah would "compromise our health, obscure our viewsheds, shrink and contaminate our watersheds, and thin out our most beloved snow pack," concluding that "our attractiveness as a place to live and work is also threatened, and so is our economic competitiveness as a major metro area and a state, compromising our recent gains in income and property values".

Klamath river

American Indian tribes and salmon fishermen sought to win support from Warren Buffett for a proposal to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River. He had David Sokol respond that the FERC would decide the question.

Trade deficit

Buffett views the United States' expanding trade deficit as a trend that will devalue the US dollar and US assets. He believes that the US dollar will lose value in the long run, as a result of putting a larger portion of ownership of US assets in the hands of foreigners. In his letter to shareholders in March 2005, Warren Buffett predicted that in another ten years’ time the net ownership of the U.S. by outsiders would amount to $11 trillion.

Americans ... would chafe at the idea of perpetually paying tribute to their creditors and owners abroad. A country that is now aspiring to an ‘ownership society’ will not find happiness in – and I’ll use hyperbole here for emphasis – a 'sharecropping society’.

Author Ann Pettifor has adopted the image in her writings and has stated: "He is right. And so the thing we must fear most now, is not just the collapse of banks and investment funds, or of the international financial architecture, but of a 'sharecropper society, angry at its downfall".

Dollar and gold

The trade deficit induced Buffett to enter the foreign currency market for the first time in 2002. However, he substantially reduced his stake in 2005 as changing interest rates increased the costs of holding currency contracts. Buffett continues to be bearish on the dollar, and says he is looking to acquire companies which derive a substantial portion of their revenues from outside the United States. Buffett emphasized the non-productive aspect of a gold standard for the USD in 1998 at Harvard:

It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.

In 1977 Buffett was also quoted as saying about stocks, gold, farmland, and inflation:

Stocks are probably still the best of all the poor alternatives in an era of inflation – at least they are if you buy in at appropriate prices.

Taxes

Buffett stated that he only paid 19% of his income for 2006 ($48.1 million) in total federal taxes (due to their being from dividends & capital gains), while his employees paid 33% of theirs, despite making much less money. “How can this be fair?” Buffet asked, regarding how little he pays in taxes compared to his employees. “How can this be right?” He also added:

: “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

Buffett favors the inheritance tax, saying that repealing it would be like "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics". In 2007, Buffett testified before the Senate and urged them to preserve the estate tax so as to avoid a plutocracy. Some critics have argued that Buffett (through Berkshire Hathaway) has a personal interest in the continuation of the estate tax, since Berkshire Hathaway has benefited from the estate tax in past business dealings and had developed and marketed insurance policies to protect policy holders against future estate tax payments. Buffett believes government should not be in the business of gambling, or legalizing casinos, calling it a tax on ignorance.

Expensing of stock options

He has been a strong proponent of stock option expensing on the Income Statement. At the 2004 annual meeting, he lambasted a bill before the United States Congress that would consider only some company-issued stock options compensation as an expense, likening the bill to one that was almost passed by the Indiana House of Representatives to change the value of Pi from 3.14159 to 3.2 through legislative fiat.

When a company gives something of value to its employees in return for their services, it is clearly a compensation expense. And if expenses don't belong in the earnings statement, where in the world do they belong?

Investing in China

Buffett invested in PetroChina Company Limited and in a rare move, posted a commentary on Berkshire Hathaway's website stating why he would not divest from the company despite calls from some activists to do so, due to its connection with the Sudanese civil war that caused Harvard to divest from the company in 2005. He did, however, sell this stake soon afterwards, sparing him the billions of dollars he would have lost had he held on to the company in the midst of the steep drop in oil prices beginning in the summer of 2008.

In October 2008, Buffett invested in new energy automobile business by paying $230 million for 10% of BYD Company (), which runs a subsidiary of electric automobile manufacturer BYD Auto. In less than one year, the investment has reaped him over 500% return of profit.

Books about Buffett

Numerous books have been written about Warren Buffett and his investment strategies. In October 2008, ''USA Today'' reported that there were at least 47 books in print with Buffett's name in the title. The article quoted the CEO of Borders Books, George Jones, as saying that the only other living persons named in as many book titles were U.S. presidents, major world political figures, and the Dalai Lama. Buffett said that his own personal favorite is a collection of his essays called ''The Essays of Warren Buffett'', which he described as "a coherent rearrangement of ideas from my annual report letters" as edited by Larry Cunningham.

Some best-selling, or otherwise notable, books about Buffett:

Roger Lowenstein, ''Buffett, Making of an American Capitalist''

Robert Hagstrom, ''The Warren Buffett Way''. Alice Schroeder, ''The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life''. (Written with Buffett's cooperation.) Mary Buffett and David Clark, ''Buffettology'' and four subsequent books. (Combined sales of more than 1.5 million copies.) Janet Lowe, ''Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor''. John Train, ''The Midas Touch: The Strategies That Have Made Warren Buffett 'America's Preeminent Investor'.'' Andrew Kilpatrick, ''Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett''. (The longest of the books about Buffett, with 330 chapters, 1,874 pages and 1,400 photos, weighing 10.2 pounds.) John P. Reese, "The Guru Investor: How to Beat the Market Using History's Best Investment Strategies". (Includes step-by-step stock-picking method based on Buffett's approach) Janet M. Tavakoli, ''Dear Mr. Buffett: what an investor learns 1,269 miles from Wall Street'', John Wiley and Sons, 2008, ISBN 9780470406786

Bibliography

''The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America'', Warren Buffett and Lawrence A. Cunningham, The Cunningham Group; revised edition (April 11, 2001), ISBN 978-0966446111

''The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Second Edition'', Warren E. Buffett and Lawrence A. Cunningham, The Cunningham Group; 2nd edition (April 14, 2008), ISBN 978-0966446128

See also

Forbes list of billionaires

References

External links

Berkshire Hathaway official website

Latest Holdings In Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio, Dynamically Updated

Buffett Partnership Letters

Berkshire Hathaway SEC 13F Filings

Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:American agnostics Category:American billionaires Category:American businesspeople Category:American insurance businesspeople Category:American chief executives Category:American financiers Category:American investors Category:American money managers Category:American philanthropists Category:Berkshire Hathaway Category:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation people Category:Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Category:Businesspeople in the insurance industry Category:Columbia Business School alumni Category:Equity securities Category:Grinnell College people Category:Nebraska Democrats Category:Stock traders Category:Wharton School alumni Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Buffett family

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Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Anthony "Tony" Robbins
birth date	February 29, 1960
birth place	North Hollywood, California,United States
occupation	Author Actor Professional speaker Peak Performance Coach
years active	1978–present
height
spouse	}}

Anthony "Tony" Robbins (born February 29, 1960) is an American self-help author and motivational speaker. He became well known through his infomercials and self-help books, ''Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement'' and ''Awaken The Giant Within''. Robbins writes about subjects such as health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships. Robbins began his career learning from many different motivational speakers, and promoted seminars for his personal mentor, Jim Rohn. He is deeply influenced by neuro-linguistic programming and a variety of philosophies. Robbins' books include ''Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement'' and ''Awaken The Giant Within''.

Robbins's work has been featured in major media including Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Life, GQ, Vanity Fair, Business Week, Tycoon and Success magazines, the CBS Evening News, NBC News, ABC's Prime Time Live, Fox News, CNN and A&E; as well as newspapers, radio programs, and Internet media worldwide. Robbins has been mentioned or featured in 15 major motion pictures, including a cameo role in the hit movie "Shallow Hal." In 2007, he was named to Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list.

His programs have reached over 4 million people from 100 countries around the world.

Anthony Robbins was ranked among the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World” by Accenture’s Institute for Strategic Change. Robbins has spoken at Harvard Business School and was ranked by the school among the “Top 200 Business Gurus” (Harvard Business School Press, 2003).

Early life

Robbins was born Anthony Jay Mahavorick in North Hollywood, California. He later moved to Azusa, California, and attended Glendora High School. Robbins says that he lived in a small low-rent apartment in the Los Angelos area during his early twenties and had dreamed of living in a mansion for years. In 1984, as his career began to take off, he bought Del Mar Castle for $1.7M. He sold the property in 1988 for $3.25M.

Career

Robbins began his career promoting seminars for Jim Rohn. According to Robbins, Jim Rohn taught him that "happiness and success in life are not the result of what we have, but rather of how we live. What we do with the things we have makes the biggest difference in the quality of life."

Later Robbins began his own work as a self-help coach. He taught neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and Ericksonian Hypnosis after training with NLP co-founder John Grinder. In 1983, Robbins learned to firewalk from Tolly Burkan and began to incorporate it into his seminars.

Robbins promoted his services as a "peak performance coach" through his books and TV infomercials, gaining strong public recognition and lucrative sales. He conducts a large range of seminars and live events around the world dedicated to achieving greatness in his participants by unleashing their personal power and helping them align their values with their individual life goals. In 1997, Robbins began the ''Leadership Academy'' seminar, in which participants learn to ''"[c]reate an identity for them self as someone who can help 'anyone', no matter what his/her challenge may be."'' Robbins is a featured speaker on the seminar circuit sponsored by Learning Annex. Robbins appeared as a featured speaker at the 2007 Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference. His talk is among the TOP TEN TED TALKS.

Seminars

Robbins also conducts seminars, including his four-day ''Unleash the Power Within'' (UPW) seminar, ''Mastery University'' and ''Business Mastery''.

The UPW is also known as his firewalk seminar, during which the participants walk barefoot over hot coals at the end of the first evening. The aim of the seminar, demonstrated in the firewalk, is to illustrate that the main quality shared by those who achieve greatness is the ability to take action ('Personal Power').

Mastery University is promoted at the UPW seminar. Life Mastery, espouses Robbins' ideas about what makes for a healthy lifestyle, and has in the past featured guest lecturers including Deepak Chopra and John Gray. Date With Destiny, the only Mastery event at which Robbins is present for the entire event, is said to be designed to help participants align their values so that they are not in conflict, but rather are aligned with the participant's individual goals.

In 1997, Robbins initiated his Leadership Academy seminar, in which he invites participants to learn the skills he uses, with the stated goal of the program to enable the participant to "[c]reate an identity for yourself as someone who can help 'anyone', no matter what his/her challenge may be"

In 2009 Robbins created his Business Mastery program, designed to provide business leaders with tools to manage and grow their businesses. The seminar is conducted live by Robbins and features entrepreneur guest speakers. Past speakers have included Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, Peter Guber (Chairman & CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group) and Tony Hsieh (CEO and Founder of Zappos.com).

Books

Tony Robbins has published two best-selling books, ''Unlimited Power'' and ''Awaken the Giant Within''.

Unlimited Power, published in 1987, discusses the topics of health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships. One reviewer called the book "uplifting and idealistic" and referenced the “dynamic enthusiasm" of the book;" and another describes Robbins as “a persuasive communicator who spends more linage on step-by-step details of his recommendations than in self-boosterism." while another reviewer said it's "too wordy" and "reads like a transcript of a series of talks." Other reviewers dispute the book's originality, pointing to ideological similarities with Maxwell Maltz, Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, and Dale Carnegie, all of whom Robbins acknowledges in his book. Some have criticized the chapter called "Energy: The Fuel of Excellence" which includes information on food combining, lymphology, and deep breathing to promote health. Robbins makes reference to the book Fit for Life and its authors, Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, whom he refers to as his "former partners". The National Council for Reliable Health Information wrote a critical review of the chapter and called his sources unreliable.

Awaken the Giant Within, published in 1992, was an expansion of his personal development techniques and strategies taught through a motivational self-help type approach. Robbins made the distinction between his techniques, coined as Neuro-Associative Conditioning as unique from Neuro-Linguistic Programming because the trademarked difference is defined by the application of "conditioning" to a newly learned personal development technique and/or skill or strategy rather than "being programmed" and suggest-ably fixed once and for all by someone else who had more power than the individual to make a change.

Movie Appearances and TV Show

Robbins had a pivitol story-line setting cameo role in the 2001 Jack Black box office hit movie "Shallow Hal.". Robbins also had cameo rolls as himself in the 1994 movie "Reality Bites," in three episodes of "Roseanne" (TV series - 1997 season and 1998 season), and in an episode of hit HBO series "The Sopranos" (TV series - 2004 season).

In July 2010, NBC debuted ''Breakthrough with Tony Robbins'', a reality show that followed Robbins as he helped the show's participants face their personal challenges. NBC canceled the show after airing two of the planned six episodes, due to low viewership.

Anthony Robbins Foundation

In 1991, Robbins launched a charity, the Anthony Robbins Foundation. It is dedicated to empowering students and prisoners through food drives and learning programs based on his teachings. According to the official website, the foundation has "products and programs in more than 2,000 schools, 700 prisons, and 100,000 health and human service organizations." The Foundation and the validity and success of its programs have been written about and featured in many dozens of articles, appearing on various websites. Examples include the following source sites. Despite this, the independent charity watchdog, Charity Navigator, gives the foundation a rating of one out of four stars. The official website states that "''the Foundation is committed to make a difference in the quality of life for children, the homeless, the prison population, and the elderly through its various programs''". The foundation has subsequently led to the forming of "Basket Brigades" across the world that occur each Thanksgiving. Individuals and groups have joined together to assemble and deliver dinner baskets to needy families.

Lawsuits

Federal Trade Commission: In May 1995, Robbins Research Internal (RRI) responded to Federal Trade Commission charges of misrepresentation of potential earnings to franchise investors. RRI and the FTC entered into a stipulated settlement agreement, in which RRI agreeed to pay $221,260 (USD) in consumer redress. There were no findings or admissions of wrong doing on the part of RRI.

Wade Cook: Financial seminar guru Wade Cook also sued Robbins for copyright infringement and plagiarism, alleging that Robbins used proprietary terms in his seminars and in his book, ''Wall Street Money Machine''. In 1998, a Tacoma, Washington, jury ordered Robbins to pay Cook US$650,900 in damages. The order to pay damages was later withdrawn, but the allegations remained.The ninth circuit court ruled in 2000 that the trial judge has misinterpreted the statutes, and the verdict and damages were reinstated, stating, "The Court found that U.S. District Court Judge, Jack Tanner, erred in "finding a conclusion contrary to the jury award," and sent instructions to reinstate the award. "This is a landmark decision by the 9th Circuit Court because of the high profile players and issues at stake," said lead attorney and Wade Cook General Counsel, Troy Romero. "The Court is telling individuals that, no matter who you are, the protection of copyrightable material will be preserved." Robbins was forced to pay the entire amount.

Vancouver Sun Defamation suit: In 2001, Robbins filed a lawsuit against the newspaper the ''Vancouver Sun'', alleging defamation and libel. The judge determined the ''Vancouver Sun'' defamed Tony Robbins when it called him a hypocrite. Awarding Robbins $20,000 in damages, the judge wrote "While damages are presumed, the plaintiff's failure to take the witness stand and to testify about his feelings and the impact of the defamation upon his reputation leaves the court somewhat in the dark about these matters". The court awarded Robbins his attorneys' fees and costs in addition to damages.

Celebrity status

In his book, ''Awaken the Giant Within'', Robbins recalls meetings with various celebrities, saying he was a student of their success. People he mentioned were Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, François Mitterrand, and Princess Diana. During Robbins' infomercials, he had celebrity appearances by Fran Tarkenton, Pamela Anderson, Quincy Jones, Erin Brockovich and Anthony Hopkins. Robbins stated that they came without any compensation.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton invited Robbins, Marianne Williamson and Dr. Steven R. Covey to a meeting at Camp David. All parties "refused to divulge the substance of their meeting with the Clintons".

Personal life

In 1984, Robbins and his ex-girlfriend, Liz Acosta, gave birth to Jairek Robbins.

In 1997, Robbins and his first wife of 15 years, Becky Robbins (née Jenkins), were divorced.

In June 2001, Robbins married Bonnie Humphrey (now known as Sage Robbins) and is the father of four children.

Tony Robbins started his career working for a medium size publishing company in the states. Having a natural gift for sales and communicating he soon rose to the position of director before embarking on peak performance speaking.

Robbins alludes to his personal belief in God in ''Unlimited Power'', giving the grand complexity of life as evidence of an intelligent designer.

See also

Kaizen

Self-help

References

Publications

Books

CD/DVDs

| accessdate = 2007-09-20}} |accessdate = 2009-12-20}} |accessdate = 2009-12-20}} |accessdate = 2009-12-20}}

Other

''Living Health

''The Time of Your Life

''Mastering Influence

''The Ultimate Relationship Program (Robbins-Madanes)

''Leadership In Times of Crisis (Robbins-Madanes)

''Reclaiming Your True Identity (Robbins-Madanes)

''Conquering Overwhelming Loss (Robbins-Madanes)

''Personal Training System

''Unleash The Power Within

External links

Tony Robbins official website

''Breakthrough'' with Tony Robbins on NBC

Category:1960 births Category:American motivational speakers Category:American motivational writers Category:American self-help writers Category:Life coaches Category:Living people Category:Neuro-Linguistic Programming writers Category:People from the San Gabriel Valley Category:Popular psychology

ar:أنتوني روبنز da:Anthony Robbins de:Anthony Robbins eo:Anthony Robbins fa:آنتونی رابینز fr:Anthony Robbins it:Anthony Robbins he:אנתוני רובינס lt:Anthony Robbins nl:Tony Robbins pl:Tony Robbins pt:Tony Robbins ru:Роббинс, Энтони sl:Anthony Robbins yi:טאני ראבינס

Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
background	solo_singer
birth name	Percy Miller
alias	Lil' Romeo, Rome, Romeo
born	August 19, 1989
origin	New Orleans, Louisiana
genre	Hip hop
occupation	RapperModelBasketball playerEntrepreneurActor
college	USC
years active	2001–present
label	No Limit (2001–2002) Priority (2001–2002) The New No Limit (2002–2004) Universal (2002–2003) E1 (2004–2005) Guttar Music (2005–2006) Take A Stand (2007–present) The Next Generation (CEO) (2010–present) No Limit Forever (CEO) (2010–present)
website	http://romeoforever.com }}

Percy Romeo Miller, Jr. (born August 19, 1989), better known by his stage name Romeo (previously Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, actor, basketball player, entrepreneur, and model. He is the son of rapper and entrepreneur Master P and former rapper Sonya C. He is the nephew of rappers C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker and the brother of singer Cymphonique. As a rap musician, Miller has released three studio albums and two compilation albums.

Early life

Romeo Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of entertainer and entrepreneur founder P. Miller whose career was at its peak at the time. Romeo was signed to No Limit at the age of 5 after he wrote a rap to his dad.

Music career

''Lil' Romeo'' (2001)

He then released his debut album 7 years later titled after his original alias ''Lil' Romeo''. This offering contained the hit single "My Baby" that charted No. 1 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-hop Singles. The album peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums, and was certified certified Platinum by the RIAA for the sales of 1,300,000. Also in 2001 he was featured on his uncle Silkk the Shocker's remix single of "That's Kool", which was also featured on his own album.

''Game Time'' (2002–2003)

In 2002, a year later after his debut album, Miller put out his second studio album, ''Game Time''. It peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard 200 and No. 10 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums. It spawned the billboard charting single "2-Way" that charted to No. 66 Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. It also spawned the album second single "True Love" which charted at No. 16 under the Hot 100 Singles. Though not as successful on the charts as Miller's debut album It still was successful in sales certified 2x Platinum, selling 2,430,785 copies making this Miller's highest selling album.

''Romeoland'' (2004–2007)

In 2004, miller released his third studio album ''Romeoland,'' which was not as successful as his last two albums, but still managed to be certified Gold selling over 459,000 copies in the United States. It was also the last studio album to feature Miller billed as Lil' Romeo. In 2005 Romeo along with his brother Valentino Miller who was known as Young V at that time and their three cousins C-Los, Lil' D & Willie J formed the group Rich Boyz & released their debut album ''Young Ballers: The Hood Been Good to Us''. In 2006 Miller released a compilation album entitled ''Greatest Hits'' the album featured all of his hit songs when Miller was billed as Lil' Romeo. In 2006 Romeo released the two albums ''Lottery'' & ''God's Gift'' on the new label owned by himself and his father Master P, entitled Guttar Music. ''Lottery'' served as Millers first independent release while ''God's Gift'' served as a soundtrack to a movie with the same name. ''God's Gift'' was also Miller's first album to use the name Romeo and to have explicit language. The two albums were also known for containing Miller's single "U Can't Shine Like Me" which was a direct response to Bow Wow, who fans thought dissed Miller in his song "Fresh Azimiz". In 2007 Miller released a collaboration album with his father Master P titled ''Hip Hop History'' it sold 32,000 records worldwide.

''Intelligent Hoodlum'' (2008–present)

In 2008 Miller stated he was working on his fourth studio album entitled ''Gumbo Station''. On June 17, 2008 Miller released the first single from the album which was "Get Low wit It" which featured Akon & his brother Valentino Miller it failed to gain success on the Billboard charts. On March 3, 2009 Romeo released a compilation entitled ''Get Low LP'' that contained songs that were supposed to be on ''Gumbo Station''. It debuted at No. 149 on the Billboard 200 and as of May 5, 2009 it has sold over 20,000 copies. In 2010 Romeo confirmed that he was still working on his fourth studio album but he changed the name of the album to ''The College Boy''. Romeo then announced that the title of the album was going to be ''I Am No Limit''. On January 19, 2010 Romeo released the first promotional single for the album entitled "Tell Me A Million Times" that featured Tempo. Then on January 26, 2010 Romeo released the second promotional single for the album entitled "Ice Cream Man Jr." which was a tribute to his dad Master P. On February 16, 2010 Miller released his debut mixtape ''Patience Is A Virtue'' to promote the album. Then on March 2, 2010 Romeo released two EPs to promote the album which were the ''Famous Girl'' & ''Monster/Practice''. Also In 2010 Miller debuted his newly founded record label The Next Generation Entertainment with his new group the College Boyys. They released a collaboration album on May 25, 2010 entitled ''Spring Break'' which sold over 200,000 copies worldwide. Miller also on this day released three singles which were "You" that featured D'Anna & Lil Twist, "She Bad" that featured Millers cousins Lil' D & Black Don & "They Dont Know" but all of the singles failed to reach the charts. Romeo also performed at the 2010 Hip Hop Honors along with his brother Valentino Miller, his cousins Lil' D & Black Don, & his uncle Silkk The Shocker, along with Trina, Gucci Mane & Mystikal to honor his dad Master P & No Limit Records. In late 2010 Romeo relaunched No Limit as No Limit Forever Romeo also confirmed that he has changed the name of the album from ''I Am No Limit'' to ''Intelligent Hoodlum''. In 2011 It Is confirmed that Romeo is going on a new tour with his dad Master P & his uncle Silkk the Shocker the tour is entitled ”No Limit Forever International". On January 11, 2011 Romeo released his EP ''Dont Push Me''. On May 3, 2011 Romeo released the first official single from ''Intelligent Hoodlum'' which is "Famous Girl (Remix)" which is really the mastered version of the original it still features appearances from Sean Kingston & Miller's cousin Black Don. On August 19, 2011 Romeo released his ''I Am No Limit'' mixtape which was originally supposed to be his fourth studio album before it got changed but Miller just decided it would be best to just release it as a mixtape for his fans.

Other ventures

Acting career

Miller started his acting career with a cameo appearance in the 2001 film ''Max Keeble's Big Move'', as himself. He later co-starred with Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer and Zachary Isaiah Williams in the film ''Honey'' (2003). In ''Honey'', his character was Benny, a young boy looking for a break. Also in 2003, he voiced himself on an episode of the animated series, ''Static Shock'', to which he had performed the theme song. He co-starred with his dad in a movie called ''Uncle P'' in 2005. He also starred in another movie with Zachary Isaiah Williams, ''God's Gift'', which came out in 2006. Recently, he made a cameo appearance, as himself, in ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' as a rapping coach for the teachers. Then in 2007 he starred in film ''ASL'' as himself, Rome, alongside Forrest Lipton and Zachary Isaiah Williams who played the young Romeo; Lil Romey and had also previously starred with Romeo in ''Honey'' and Nickelodeon's ''Romeo!''. He guest-starred as a rapper accused of murder in the 2010 CBS series, ''The Defenders'' and acted in the highly successful film, ''Jumping the Broom'', released in May 2011. In 2011, he also starred in TV commercials for McDonald's & ICDC Colleges.

Fashion designer

On July 24, 2010 Romeo launched his own clothing line titled "College Boyys", which has also been promoted by Miller & his new group the College Boyys. It has also been promoted by artists such as Justin Bieber, Big Time Rush & Jaden Smith. Romeo stated

Basketball career

Name	Percy Miller, Jr.
College	USC
Conference	Pac-10
Sport	Basketball
Position	Point guard
Career start	2008 2010
Nickname	Romeo, Prince P
Jersey	15
Height ft	5
Height in	11
Weight lb	170
Nationality	American
Birth date	August 19, 1989
Birth place	New Orleans, Louisiana
Highschool	Beverly Hills High School
tournaments	y
tournament list	2009 NCAA Tournament
color	DarkRed
fontcolor	Gold }}

Romeo was invited, in the summer of 2006, to the Reebok-sponsored ABCD Camp, which is considered the premier basketball camp in the United States. The Teaneck, New Jersey-based ABCD Camp is an invitation-only basketball showcase previously attended by high-profile players including Kobe Bryant, Stephon Marbury, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Surrounded by future NBA players such as O. J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Love, Miller looked out of place and averaged less than 2 points a game throughout the camp. ''The Wall Street Journal'' made an article on March 8, entitled "A Hot Prospect," cites Sonny Vaccaro, the longtime director of the ABCD Camp, as explaining, "he invited Romeo Miller to the 2006 camp, primarily as a favor to Percy Miller, whom he knew from the club basketball circuit." In the article, Vaccaro indicated, "If you're looking for the profile of an athlete who plays basketball at USC, he's not it."

On April 13, 2007, Miller verbally committed to the University of Southern California (USC) and signed a letter of intent on November 19, 2007.

Miller, a 5'11" point guard, was a four year starter at Beverly Hills High School. As a junior during the 2005–2006 high school season he averaged 13.9 points and 5.6 assists per game. As a senior during the 2006–2007 high school season he averaged 8.6 points and 9.0 assists per game.

According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', it appears the decision to grant Miller a full scholarship at USC was largely driven by his relationship with friend and teammate Demar DeRozan, the 6-foot-6 All-American forward who was rated as the number five prospect in the country on Scout.com. ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported Coach Tim Floyd as saying, "Last April...Percy Miller called while driving both players from a tournament in Fayetteville, Ark...Percy Miller said 'Demar and Romeo are ready to make their decision, and would you like to have them both on scholarship?'...'I said absolutely.'" Miller and DeRozan began playing in the 2008–2009 season.

Miller had a disappointing career at USC. In his two seasons as a Trojan, he played a total of 19 minutes in 9 games and scored a total of 5 points.

Modeling career

On December 27 Romeo modeled for a new 2011 calender. On April 10, 2011 Miller modeled for the April issue of ''TROIX'' magazine. On April 12, 2011 Miller modeled again for some new pictures. He also modeled with the singer-songwriter Chynna Terrell.

Dancing with the Stars

After originally withdrawing from season two of ''Dancing with the Stars'' due to an injury, Romeo competed in season 12. He was partnered with professional dancer, Chelsie Hightower. They were eliminated from the show on May 10, 2011 and finished in the Top 5, one week before the semi-final.

rowspan="2"	Week #
	style="text-align: center; background:#faf6f6;"|Cha-Cha-Cha/ "Romeo"
	2		Quickstep/ "You're the One That I Want"		7		8		8		Safe
	style="text-align: center; background:#faf6f6;"
	style="text-align: center; background:#faf6f6;"
	style="text-align: center; background:#faf6f6;"
	6		Waltz/ "My Heart Will Go On"		10		9		9
	style="text-align:center; background:#faf6f"|Cha-Cha-Cha/ ""Born This Way""Samba/ "Say Hey (I Love You)"
	style="text-align:center; background:#faf6f"|Tango/"Hold It Against Me"Salsa/"Tequila"

In week 7, Donnie Burns was the guest judge and scored the dances.

Personal life

Miller attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. Romeo sponsors "Loco Tonic", an energy drink he mentions in his newer songs. In 2008, Romeo was ranked No. 18 in the most fit men in the world.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Lil' Romeo'' (2001)

''Game Time'' (2002)

''Romeoland'' (2004)

''Intelligent Hoodlum'' (2012)

;Independent albums

''Lottery'' (2006)

;Collaboration albums

''Young Ballers: The Hood Been Good to Us'' (2005) (with Rich Boyz)

''Hip Hop History'' (2007) (with Master P)

''Spring Break'' (2010) (with College Boyys)

''TBA'' (2012) (with College Boyys)

''TBA'' (2012) (with Resq3)

;Mixtapes

''Patience Is A Virtue'' (2009)

''I Am No Limit'' (2011)

Filmography

;Films

''Honey (2003 film) ''Still 'Bout It'' ''God's Gift (film) ''Uncle P'' ''The Pig People'' ''Down and Distance'' ''Jumping the Broom (film)

Year
2001	''Max Keeble's Big Move''	Himself
2003	Honey'' ||	Benny	Main Role
rowspan="2">2004	|	M.J.	Main Role
''Decisions''	Jamal
rowspan="2"	2006	God's Gift'' ||	Romeo	Main Role
''Don't Be Scared''	Unknown
rowspan="2"	2007	|	Corey Miller	Main Role
''Crush On U''	Rome
2009	|	TJ	Main Role
2010	|	Darren Sheehan	Main Role
rowspan="2"	2011	Jumping the Broom'' ||	Sebastian	Support Role
''Wolf Boy''	''2120''

;Television

''Oh Drama!'' ''The Hughleys'' ''Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration'' ''Raising Dad'' ''American Music Awards of 2002 ''Proud Family'' ''One on One (TV series) ''Static Shock'' ''All Grown Up!'' ''Romeo!'' ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide ''Out of Jimmy's Head ''The Defenders (2010 TV series) ''The Bad Girls Club (season 6) ''Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 12) ''The Cape ''Reed Between the Lines'' ''Charlie's Angels (2011 TV series)

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
2001	''The Brothers García''	Ty
2001	|	Musical Guest	Television special
2001	|	Himself
2001	|	Himself
2002	|	Marvin
2002	The 29th Annual American Music Awards'' ||	Himself
2002	|	Himself	"A Hero For Halloween" (episode 24, season 1)
2003	One on One'' ||	Eric	"Spy Games"
2003	|	Himself	Recorded the final theme song for the series.
2003	|	Lil Q	"It's Cupid, Stupid" (episode 8, season 1)
2003–2006	|	Romeo "Ro" Miller	Main Role/Starring as ''Romeo''.
2005	|	Rapping teacher	"Guide to: Emergency Drills and Late Bus" (episode 21, season 2)
2008	|	Himself	"Lunch Tables" (episode 13, season 1)
2010	The Defenders ||	Killa Diz	"The Defenders – Nevada v. Killa Diz"
2011	The Bad Girls Club: Season 6'' ||	Himself	Guest appearance on the reality show (episode 10)
2011	Dancing With the Stars: Season 12 '' ||	Contestant	Romeo was originally supposed to be competing in season 2 but due to a injury he was unable & his dad Master P filled in for him
2011	|	Gangster	Season 1, Episode 9 – "Razer".
2011	|	Darius	Season 1, Episode 5 – "Let's Talk About Competition"
2011	Charlie's Angels'' ||	Royal's son	Season 1, EpisRode 7 – "Royal Angels"

Felipe Solis is schedule to appear in Romeo's new reality show Romeo & Juliet

Awards and nominations

Billboard Music Awards

*2001, Rap Artist of the Year (Winner)

*2001, Music Videos: ''My Baby'' (Winner)

*2002, R&B;/Hip-Hop: ''My Baby'' (Winner)

Kids Choice Awards

*2004, Favorite Television Actor – Male for: ''Romeo!'' (Nominated)

*2005, Favorite Television Actor – Male for: ''Romeo!'' (Winner)

*2006, Favorite Television Actor – Male for: ''Romeo!'' (Nominated)

Teen Choice Awards

*2004, Choice Breakout Movie Star – Male for: ''Honey'' (Nominated)

Black Reel Awards

*2004, Choice Breakout Movie Star – Male for: ''Honey'' (Nominated)

Young Artist Awards

*2005, Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actor: Romeo! (Nominated)

NAMIC Vision Awards

*2005, Best Comedic Performance: ''Romeo!'' (Nominated)

Image Awards

*2005, Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Program – Series or Special: ''Romeo!'' (Nominated)

References

External links

Official website

USC Athletics Player Biography: No. 15 Percy Miller

http://www.miniature-englishbulldogs.com/celebritypuppies.htm

Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:African-American businesspeople Category:African-American fashion designers Category:African American film actors Category;African American child actors Category:African American actors Category:African American models Category:African American rappers Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American film actors Category:American male models Category:American voice actors Category:Businesspeople in fashion Category:E1 Music artists Category:No Limit Records artists Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Rappers from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:USC Trojans men's basketball players

da:Romeo Miller de:Romeo (Rapper) es:Lil' Romeo fr:Lil' Romeo it:Lil' Romeo no:Romeo Miller pl:Lil' Romeo pt:Romeo Miller fi:Romeo (rap-artisti) sv:Romeo (artist) th:โรมีโอ มิลเลอร์ tr:Lil’Romeo

Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Seongha Jeong
birth name	정성하
birth date	September 02, 1996
birth place	Seoul, Korea
nationality	South Korean
other names	colloquially: ''Sungha Jung'', ''jwcfree'', ''jungsungha'', ''blueseaJSH''
years active	September 8, 2006–present
known for	Guitar music
website	Official website }}

Title	Korean name
Hangul	정성하
Hanja
Rr	Seongha Jeong
Mr	Sŏngha Jŏng}}

Seongha Jeong (정성하) (colloquially: Sungha Jung) (born 2 September 1996) is a South Korean professional acoustic finger-style guitarist who has risen to fame on YouTube and other sites, mainly through the South Korean audience. As of 2011, his channel had over 14 million views, with his videos getting a total of over 306 million views, and also over 469,000 subscribers.

Seongha typically takes three days to learn and practice a new piece, and video-record it for upload onto YouTube. His genre selection is rather broad, as he learns and plays many pieces that are playable on guitar, therefore consequently spread across numerous genres.

Seongha has won 13 awards on YouTube, including 6 "#1" awards. Also on YouTube, Seongha has 38 videos with over one million views. Seongha's video with the most views is the shows him playing the theme from "Pirates Of The Caribbean", at 21,428,457 views as of 22 August 2011.

Seongha has composed 18 pieces as of February 2011, two of which are featured in his debut album, "Perfect Blue".

In 2011, he performed in the US with Trace Bundy, as well as touring in Scandinavia and Japan.

YouTube awards

''(Ordered highest to lowest)''

''#1'' – Most Subscribed (All Time) – South Korea

''#1'' – Most Subscribed (All Time) – Musicians – South Korea

''#1'' – Most Viewed (This Week) – Musicians – South Korea

''#1'' – Most Viewed (This Month) – Musicians – South Korea

''#1'' – Most Viewed (All Time) – South Korea

''#1'' – Most Viewed (All Time) – Musicians – South Korea

''#6'' – Most Viewed (This Millenium) – South Korea

''#6'' – Most Viewed (This Month) – South Korea

''#13'' – Most Viewed (Today) – Musicians – Zimbabwe

''#21'' – Most Viewed (This Week) – Musicians

''#25'' – Most Subscribed (All Time) – Musicians

''#54'' – Most Viewed (All Time) – Musicians

''#93'' – Most Viewed (This Month) – Musicians

''#93'' – Most Viewed (This Month) - Philippines

See also

Yuto Miyazawa, Seongha's Japanese electric guitar-playing counterpart

Trace Bundy, Fellow acoustic guitarist with whom Seongha collaborates

Ulli Bögershausen, Fellow acoustic guitarist who helped him get his sponsorship with Lakewood Guitars

References

Category:South Korean guitarists Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:People from Seoul Category:Video bloggers Category:South Korean Internet personalities Category:1996 births Category:Living people

de:Sungha Jung ko:정성하 it:Sungha Jung pl:Sungha Jung pt:Sungha jung ro:Sungha Jung ru:Чон Сонха sv:Sungha Jung vi:Seongha Jeong